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OCCUPATIONS OF THE PEASANT POPULATION OF PSKOV PROVINCE
AND THEIR SITUATION IN 1895-97 —
PSKOV 1898

I. Migratory occupations

The total number of passports issued by the volost administrations of Pskov Province in 1895 equals 61,925, with male passports accounting for 45,973; and female passports — 15,953...
From the total number of passports issued in 1896, = 43,765
men took 43,765 (2,208 fewer), and women 16,133 (180 more)...

... data on the volume of permits for absence issued to the male population during the period from 1865 to 1876. In the table below ... calculations have been made showing by what factor the issuance of passports increased by 1896 for each of the districts.

| Districts | Average for the decade 1865-75 | Issue in 1876 | By what factor the issue in 1896 exceeds the average for 1865-75 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toroptskii | 5.0 | 5.1 | |
| Kholmskii | 4.7 | 5.2 | |
| Pskovskii | 1,471 | 1,930 | 6.0 | 4.9 |
| Ostrovskoi | 1,229 | 1,233 | 4.3 | 4.1 |
| Novozhevskii | 2,027 | 1,856 | 2.9 | 3.0 |
| Opocheckii | 1,962 | 2,007 | 3.0 | 2.9 |
| Velikoluckii | 1,776 | 2,545 | 3.4 | 2.7 |
| Porkhuskii | 2,677 | 4,831 | 3.3 | 3.1 |
| Total | 11,715 | 14,944 | 3.9 | 2.9 |
| | | [386] | |

OCCUPATIONS OF THE PEASANT POPULATION OF PSKOV PROVINCE

S. A. Korolenko* estimated the surplus of workers in Pskov Province at 164,469 persons.

... Taking the total number of passports issued for the entire year 1895 as 100, we obtain the following distribution of them by season in percentages:

|  | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| Spring | 30.6% | 27.4% |
| Summer | 22.6 » | 23.3 » |
| Autumn | 26.7 » | 29.7 » |
| Winter | 20.4 » | 19.6 » |
|  | 100% | 100% |

In the economy of the population in certain districts of Pskov Province, fishing occupies a very substantial place.

... in the center of Aksenov volost of Novozhev district ... only 30-40 more well-to-do householders, constituting three separate artels, are professional fishermen. Such an artel elects a "master," whose duty it is to lease the water, sell the fish and manage the fishing operations ...

Fish catching is carried out partly by the artel members themselves, partly by hired workers — "pomogailo"* — recruited from peasants in neighboring villages...¹

¹ According to information collected by the district administration in 1884, fishing occupations employed: in Slobodskaia volost 200 fishing householders and 100 proprietors of smelt-drying ovens, in Pecherskaia — 35 persons, in Logazovskaia — 396 householders (including 4 proprietors of smelt drying ovens), in Toroshivskaia — 52 persons, in Pskovo-Gradskaia — 18 fishing householders, 78 workers and 85 proprietors of smelt-drying ovens, in Ostenskaia — 500 fishermen (including 30 householders and 470 workers) and 45 proprietors of smelt-drying ovens, in Sidorovskaia volost — 96 persons.

S. A. Korolenko. "Wage Labor in the Economies of Proprietors and the Movement of Workers, in Connection with a Statistical-Economic Survey of European Russia in its Agricultural and Industrial Aspects," St. Petersburg. 1892. Ed.

² = 1,705 persons

"The average catch of smelt of 250 thousand puds yields up to 1 million rubles. Where then does this money go? Let us attempt to distribute it approximately among the persons participating in the smelt industry. According to reference prices the difference between district and city prices amounts to 20% — this is merely commercial markup; 250 thousand rubles out of the million go to middlemen; smelt-drying factory proprietors, expending 11% on drying (firewood, salt, labor), receive no less than 25% of the remaining sum, or 250 + 187 + 313 = 750 thousand rubles;² out of the remaining 563 thousand more than half goes to the "net-owners" (owners of the seine); if one counts the remainder at 250 thousand rubles and distributes it among all the fishermen, then the earnings of a fisherman would indeed prove small; but if one takes into account that this million comprises the catch of all fishermen, that it also includes smelt from Lake Chud, whither our fishermen travel, [and] that, finally, reference prices are always higher than actual prices, and upon purchase are still lower, then the earnings of a fisherman will indeed shrink to the most modest dimensions."